


You're Never Alone With Family

by Nativestar



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: 4x08 Father + Son + Father + Matriarch, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23576692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nativestar/pseuds/Nativestar
Summary: A quiet moment of comfort between Mac and Riley.  Spoilers for 4x08 Father + Son + Father + Matriarch, set immediately post episode.  Written as gen, but could be pre-Mac/Riley
Comments: 14
Kudos: 62





	You're Never Alone With Family

Riley quietly shut the front door behind her, it was very late or early depending on how you viewed it and the house was dark. She hoped that meant Mac was sleeping. Something that she really needed herself after she’d just spent the last four hours with Matty setting up search after search to scan the web and every surveillance system she could access to flag _anything_ to help them track down Codex. She was tired and starving, but the pizza box she held in her hands would at least solve one of those problems immediately.

She slipped off her shoes and flicked on a light and jumped, barely managing to stop herself from shouting at the unexpected figure sat on the sofa.

“Mac!” She took a deep breath, hand on chest. “You scared me!”

Mac glanced at her in acknowledgement but didn’t say anything. Riley frowned, concern replacing her shock.

“You okay, Mac?” She asked and immediately winced. “That’s-- don’t answer that. I know-- its a dumb question.”

She walked over, putting the pizza box on the table in front of the sofa and shrugging off her jacket before sitting down next to Mac. She pretended not to notice the three empty bottles of beer on the floor. He still didn’t say anything to her and stared at the wall as if it held the answers he was searching for.

He looked exhausted, Riley noted. Not the ‘I haven’t slept in days’ kind of tired but the kind of tired that stretched into your soul. He’d changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants but Riley was willing to bet he’d never actually made it to his bed before giving up and coming to sit out here in the dark.

He could have stayed in his room, sat at his desk or even just laid in bed staring at the ceiling instead of the wall but he’d chosen to come out to the lounge. Maybe he’d forgotten that Riley was still crashing at his place, or she hoped, he realised either consciously or subconsciously that he wanted, _needed_ some company. Mac had never been real good at asking for what he needed. He was good at _improvising_ what he needed, making something out of seemingly nothing but when it came to his own well being, well, that was a different story.

“I’ve set up a bunch of automated searches.” Riley offered. “We’ve also got facial recognition working on every system I could get into. If she surfaces anywhere, we’ll find her.”

“Thank you.” He said quietly.

“You’re not in this alone, Mac. You’ve got the full force of the Phoenix behind you. We’ll stop Codex together.”

Mac swallowed hard and nodded. He still wouldn’t look at Riley but she was sat close enough that she could hear his unsteady breathing.

She reached forward and retrieved a slice of pizza from the box.

“Did you eat?” She asked.

Mac shrugged.

“Dig in then, I’m not going to manage eat all this.” She offered with a gentle nudge to his side. Riley had nearly finished her first slice before Mac eventually leaned over and picked up his own one but it didn’t take long before he was reaching for a second slice.

They sat in comfortable silence and ate. Riley had known Mac over four years now, she knew it was pointless to tell him she was here for him if he wanted to talk, especially when it was still so fresh. He’d talk to her when he was ready. Sometimes though he needed a reminder and she wouldn’t hesitate to tell him then, but tonight, she felt he just needed to not be alone. He didn’t ask her to leave or tell her he wanted to be by himself, instead he joined Riley in eating their way through half a pizza in no time at all so she was pretty confident she’d got it right.

Riley found her thoughts drifting, she hadn’t allowed herself time to think about it before but she wondered how she would take it if anything happened to Elwood. They were in a better place with their relationship than they had been in years but it had still been a while since she’d last checked in with him and she suddenly really wanted to hear his voice, even if it was the middle of the night. She was trying to figure out if he’d be more annoyed or worried if she called this late when Mac interrupted her thoughts.

“I don’t know why-- I mean he said it himself, he wasn’t going to win father of the year. I love him but he-- So why do I--”

“Hey,” Riley took his hand. “It doesn’t matter, he was still your father. Whatever you’re feeling is perfectly valid. You’re allowed to grieve him or hate him or love him or all of the above at once.” She squeezed his hand. “As someone who also has a complicated relationship with their father, believe me, I get it.”

“Yeah, I know you do.” Mac said quietly.

“And as a wise man once said, he was your dad and you ain’t got but one, that’s reason enough for whatever you’re feeling.”

Mac squeezed her hand back. “I miss Jack.” Mac said. Simple words, but Riley could hear everything behind that sentence that Mac hadn’t said. She felt it too.

“Yeah, so do I.”

Mac sighed.

“I need to organise something, some kind of funeral or memorial service. For someone who ran a clandestine agency, I think there’ll be a lot of people who will want to pay their respects.” He said, and Riley recognised the distraction for what it was.

“We’ll do that, Mac.” She promised. “We will, but not tonight, okay?”

“Right.” Mac agreed, slowly nodding. He looked so lost in that moment that Riley let go of his hand and wrapped hers around his shoulder, bringing their heads together to rest against each other. Both of them were breathing a little unsteady now and when Riley squeezed her eyes shut she felt tears on her face.

She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that but sitting on the sofa, belly full of pizza and Mac’s warmth next to her, Riley’s eyes started slipping shut against her will. She sucked in a deep breath and had to admit she’d reached her limit.  
  


“I need to get some sleep. And so do you.”

  
“I know.” Mac sighed. “I just don’t know if I can.”

“You need to try, Mac. Sitting in the dark, drinking, isn’t going to help.” Riley said standing and gently stretching.

“I know.” Mac said as he stood. He wrapped Riley in a hug.  “Thank you. For the food and for being here. For everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Mac. We’re family.”

Mac didn’t say anything, just tightened their hug for a moment before releasing her. As they went their separate ways to their rooms, Riley dug out her phone, scrolling down to Elwood’s number. Sleep was going to have to wait a moment longer, she couldn’t wait until morning. As it rang, she closed the door behind her, and sat against the wall furthest from Mac’s room.

“Hey, Dad. Sorry, I woke you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to get this up before tonights episode just in case it gets whatever the Macgyver version of Jossed is. I hope you enjoyed this bit of comfort and I've managed to get the tone right. Its the first time I've posted something from Riley's point of view, I definitely need to write more with her!


End file.
